Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner may have to show Robinson Cano the money

New York Daily News | May 20

You can be sure that a pair of hanging off-speed pitches from Brandon Morrow had more to do with Robinson Cano’s power show on Saturday than Hal Steinbrenner’s rare presence at the Stadium.

And, for that matter, you can be fairly sure as well, based on the way the Yankee owner speaks of his second baseman, that Cano is going to be in pinstripes for years to come.

Still, it never hurts to show off a little for the boss, as Cano did by hitting a pair of two-run home runs in Saturday’s 7-2 win over the Blue Jays.

That’s not to confuse Hal for The Boss — the capital letters perhaps forever belonging to George Steinbrenner, at least as they apply to baseball owners.

Nevertheless, Hal seems to be growing more and more comfortable following in his father’s footsteps as the man in charge of the Yankees, speaking more often in public in recent months, revealing more about himself as well.

That’s no small matter at a time when the franchise is heading for a winter of major decisions, starting with Cano’s looming free agency.

Steinbrenner has been at least somewhat open regarding his ongoing talks about a new deal, and on Saturday he sounded all but resigned to paying whatever it takes to re-sign his star player — at least now that Cano has lowered the bar a bit by leaving uber-agent Scott Boras.

“Anybody would get a little nervous as you start getting out in the seven-, eight-, nine-year range. But the market is the market. You’ve really got to go by what the market is. That’s the way it is in any business, right? A supply and demand- type of thing.”

Freely translated, that sounds like an owner who understands he can’t afford to lose the Yankees’ only star position player who is still in his prime.